Racial Profiling and Missing Church

Background story and then the most recent story.

So the night before I graduated from Freed-Hardeman University, Lauren and I went to see my aunt and my grandmother, who had arrived to see me graduate the next day. Their hotel was in Selmer, about 20 minutes away from Henderson, so we drove down and had dinner with them. We went to pizza hut, then went back to the hotel and talked for a while, then we went to walmart before we headed back. On our way back, about halfway to Henderson, we passed some cop cars that were in the median. I was not speeding, so I did not even think twice about them being there. So we keep on driving and we are like literally a minute from campus, getting into town, when this cop car turns on its lights and pulls me over. I am in shock because I was not speeding, and I didnt have a clue what I was getting pulled over for. Long story short because this isnt even the main story, but he said I had been swerving the whole way back and asked if I had been drinking (which I hadnt). He made me get out of the car and did a field sobriety test, consisting of looking in my eyes and made me follow his finger. Ridiculous to say the least that I would be driving under the influence, but it was a funny story to tell...

So last night, driving up to see Lauren in North Carolina, I tried stopping for church in Florence, SC. I got to the church I had found about 15 minutes early, only to discover that they met for mid-week Bible study on Tuesday nights instead of Wednesday nights, so I quickly scrambled to try and find another church. So I went on Google and looked for another church close to the interstate and found this address. I go down the road and get off at the exit and follow my directions. I end up in the most ghetto-y, project-place that you can picture, with my white pasty skin in the very distinct minority to all of the people around me. So I quickly realize that I must have either messed the address up or that there wasnt a church there. So I quickly left, noticing a police car in a grassy field/lot near the road. I saw the speed limit was 25 mph and I looked down and saw that I wasnt going much over, so I didnt worry about it. Well, I get back on the main road and what do you know, that cop car is behind me and he then turns his lights on and pulls me over. Walking up to my car, I can tell that he is a southern boy, especially because of the wad of tobacco that he has in his cheek. He asks for my license and registration, and tells me that i was going 35 mph in a 25 mph zone (which I didnt fight, but I dont think I was going that fast) and that when he ran my tag that it came up as expired (which it wasnt, I even have a new tag on it, so I dont know what that was about). He went back to his car for about 10 minutes, which already was putting me a good 15 minutes late if I could find another church. He came back and gave me a warning, which I was VERY thankful for, but then he had a statement/question that turned out to be the kicker. He said that the area where I had been had a lot of crime and narcotics, and he asked if I would object for him to search my person and my car. I had already explained to him that I was driving from Georgia to North Carolina to see my girlfriend who was about to leave the country and that I was stopping in Florence to go to church. I guess that calls for him to suspect me as a narcotics dealer. I didnt object, so I got out of the car and went to the back, where he spread me and searched my whole body, including the private parts. Let's just say I never thought I would ever be frisked for drugs on a highway. I really want to know if I look like a criminal. I also want to point out that if he would have given me a ticket, I totally would have screamed racial profiling. He had no reasonable reason to search my car, only that I was a white boy in a very, very, not white area. Needless to say, he didnt find anything and proceeded to ask if he could help me with any directions. By this time it was 7:30, which church was already half over and I didnt even know where else to try and find a church. So I missed church Wednesday night because of being frisked for narcotics. To tell you the truth, I dont even know what narcotics are/look like...

I left South Carolina in a somewhat state of shock, just wondering why policemen think that I am a druggie/druglord. I guess getting lost isnt a good enough excuse now-a-days.